Tournament hunting

[jaybic]

Hey fellas,

I have never hunted in a tourny and I am trying to get an idea of what a day of "tournament style" hunting is so I am hoping maybe some of you may point(kick, perhaps) me in the right direction.

My questions are this:
1. number of stands in a day(average)?

2. distance between stands(3 miles, 500 yds, 10miles?)I would assume the closer the better to maximize time and stands.

3. distance from the truck to the stand(seems like it would be pretty close and a 1/2 mi walk into the stand would kill too much time) Again, I would assume you would want stands fairly close to the road to maximize time rather than wading out for a 2 hour stroll in 1 section to make 3 sets. Just my faulty logic I guess

4.road hunt and lolly gag betweens stands (hoping to see one) or burn rubber to the next stand?

5. Do you map your stands ahead of time for wind direction and pass by the bad wind stands
or just hit em and hope?

My idea on all this is to organize my stands by wind direction and then after being let go from morning check in, drive to my furthest stand and then start working them back towards the check in spot, hitting my proven stands at the best times. I would also try to maximize time by making them close together and close to the road to speed up the process and call 15 minutes and gone. I am I kinda close here?

Any advice is appreciated as I am trying to convince my calling buddy to enter the ND Classic this year but he says we dont even know what we are doing and will get outclassed. He dont think 10-14 stands a day is possible...ect...ect so I am hoping to hear it from you guys.

He also belives that no one will divulge any "secrets" to this tourney hunting but my experience has been that folks are very forthcoming with tips.

Anyway, thanks much and good luck to you all.

Jaybic

[LeviM]

I don't want to give to much secrets away, Chris and I have spent a few years, and endless time trying to figure out the best way to hunt tournaments, but I can give you some general guidelines

1.) Average stands, we try to get a minimum of 12 quality stands in.

2.) Distance between stands, depends on terrain, weather, wind, were its possible to make another stand

3.) Distance from truck, depends again on terrain, wind, all that good stuff. Your there to kill coyotes so if it means you have to walk farther so be it

4.) Road huntings not going to get you numbers, go from one stand to another

5.) Its up to how much time you want to put into it

Treat it like any other day of hunting, kill coyotes and have fun, don't make it into work!! We get enough of that during the weekday

[wildcatCo]

I will be hunting in my first tournament next month and my plan is to take the wind, sun and terrain into consideration, then select sites where it is possible to hunt my way back to the pick-up. I will be hunting familiar territory and have plans made already for where to hunt according to the conditions. Good luck, and remember a bad day of hunting beats the hell out of a good day at work.

[Daryl]

wildcatCo where are you from and what tourney are you hunting in?